Lucy Liu’s dramatic performance is a reason to see “Rosemead,” a ruthless, often punishing true-life drama.
Liu stars as Irene, a struggling mother whose teenage son, Joe (Lawrence Shou), has been acting bizarrely in school. Initially, some dark moments from Joe’s past appear to be the culprit, as revealed in family therapy sessions.
We see how Joe’s interest in school shootings and infamous massacres becomes an obsession. While Irene’s health is declining, she dedicates her time to her son and strives to find a way to stop his escalating behavior and possibly save him from himself.
Sadly, this is based on a horrifying true story.
The lead performances by Liu and especially Shou as her son are dramatically rich, but the story puts us in a weird place – you either await something bad to happen or hope that someone intervenes in time.
In addition to how discomforting the premise is, it also presents Irene’s struggle with cancer. Because this is a true story, I want to give the film a break, as this is a lot for one movie. So is the use of images of real-life shooters.
Maybe discomforting is the wrong word and queasy is the right one.
Perhaps I’m being oversensitive, but I can’t overlook the ick factor, let alone the feeling of exploitation, when watching a movie that is all too happy to horrify us and little else. Having lived in Colorado when the Columbine High School and Aurora movie theater shootings occurred, it strikes me as bad taste to have a movie bringing us this up, unless you have a damned good reason outside of shock value.
I don’t want to see another photo of the monster who shot up that Aurora, Colorado movie theater again, let alone in a movie theater, in addition to the portrait of a man obsessed with school shooters, while his mom is trying to hide her cancer diagnosis. Even Lars von Trier knows when to make us stop yelling “Uncle!”
Minor spoiler ahead that should come as no surprise: the ending is very hard to take. I don’t mean that as a dare, the way I’d write about a shocker ending of a horror movie or a big twist in a suspense thriller. No, the ending of “Rosemead” intends to gut punch us and succeeds.
The performances are admirable all around, but the film generates suspense over whether one of the main characters will become a school shooter. Does this sound like a movie you want to see, let alone one we need?
Whatever the intentions of the filmmakers were, a part of me refuses to overlook how icky and manipulative “Rosemead” feels. I wasn’t a fan of Gus Van Sant’s “Elephant” (2003), either, despite the critical acclaim and reception at the Cannes Film Festival.
A note to the filmmakers: diving headfirst into human muck isn’t the same thing as properly exploring it, let alone explaining it and providing necessary insight. This doesn’t play like a cautionary tale but a grim reenactment of a terrible incident.
Thankfully, it’s closer to “’night Mother” (1986) than “We Need to Talk About Kevin” (2011). Still, “Rosemead” wallows in ugliness and, in a matter-of-fact manner, dishes out tragedy, without offering much perspective.
If “Rosemead” leads to valuable post-screening conversations about its uncomfortable subject matter, then the film will have done its job. I applaud the actors, but hope to never see this one again.
Two Stars